APSE

Sports Reporter/Columnist

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:48:34 +0000

The Tulsa World is looking for an experienced sports journalist who still has a passion for covering the game on and off the field. Travel and working weekends are musts in this job. You will need the ability to cover the Oklahoma sports scene in a factual, creative and entertaining manner in the newspaper, online and on various social media. The ideal columnist will write multiple weekly columns, blog and keep readers updated with sports news and insight. This position will also serve as a public face for the Tulsa World and the Tulsa World sports department at public speaking engagements and on television and radio as needed. Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university, preferable in journalism or sports, with at least five (5) years experience daily in a newspaper as sports staff, and must have good computer skills and experience in business social media.

Qualified individuals will: (1) Write 3-4 columns weekly about sports in Oklahoma (2) Blog a minimum of three times per week for tulsaworld.com (3) Post story links, blog links, commentary and interact with readers regularly on Twitter (4) Must be able to use a variety of writing styles, from short opinion pieces to long-form storytelling (5) Must be comfortable writing about a wide variety of topics, from national championship college football games, to minor league sports, to high school events (6) Must be able to develop sources and be willing to contribute reporting to breaking news coverage in a variety of beats (7) Represent Tulsa World in public speaking engagements throughout northeast Oklahoma, as well as on radio and television.

Interested individuals may send resume in (JPG, PDF or Word format) to: Will Williams hr@tulsaworld.com or by fax to (918)584-8966 or by mail Attn: HUMAN RESOURCES, 315 S. Boulder Avenue, Tulsa, OK 74103. No Phone Calls Please. EOE

Copy editor/page designer

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:55:12 +0000

The Buffalo News is looking for a full-time sports copy editor/page designer to help our team cover Western New York’s teams. You’ll be part of a talented group of editors, reporters, columnists, photographers and web producers that mixes veteran depth with youthful energy. We’re covering the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, four Division I colleges and five counties’ worth of high schools in some of the most refreshing ways in the business. You’ll work with the nation’s only African-American female sports newspaper editor; an SND award-winning design director; and the presidents of the Pro Football Writers Association and the Association for Women in Sports Media. We’re a major metro newspaper that is looking for someone enthusiastic about helping us with an exciting reinvention for the digital future. This position offers a competitive salary, employer-paid health insurance and participation in a pension plan managed by Warren Buffett (our owner). Applicants need to have a thorough knowledge of AP style and sports; experience writing sharp headlines and catching mistakes in deadline situations; a good eye for design; and proficiency in InDesign. A bachelor’s degree and at least three years of desk/design experience is required. This position calls for working nights and weekends. To apply, send resume, references and layout clips to Brian Connolly, Managing Editor, The Buffalo News, PO Box 100, Buffalo, N.Y. 14240 or email bconnolly@buffnews.com.

Sports Reporter

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 22:12:25 +0000

The Laredo Morning Times is looking for a knowledgeable full-time Sports Reporter.

LMT publishes a daily newspaper and a weekly in-depth sports tabloid, 956 Sports Unlimited. Our Sports department covers four local professional teams (soccer, baseball, hockey, and indoor football), seven local high schools — including boys' and girls' athletics — and two collegiate programs. Laredo is home to championship boxers and horse trainers, along with a wide spectrum of alternative athletics. The rich sports enviornment requires its sports reporters to share its vigor.

An affinity for working with strict, rigid deadlines and word constraints is a must. The ability to cover games, along with writing human interest, features, enterprise, opinion columns is required. Applicants should be able to follow AP format and approach stories from unique and compelling angles, while working on individual ideas and motivation.

Applicants should have at least a bachelors degree.

Please email sports editor Adam Geigerman (AGeigerman@lmtonline.com) to apply. Include a cover letter, detailed resume and at least five clippings. Also, please indicate the best time to reach you.

Laredo, Texas is America’s busiest inland port, handling almost half of the nation’s trade along its border with Mexico. The Laredo Morning Times has been an important part of life and commerce in the area since 1881, and has been a Hearst newspaper since 1984. On a typical day, circulation on both sides of the Rio Grande is in excess of 21,000 copies, with more than 63,000 adult readers. Every day the company publishes El Tiempo, a Spanish language supplement of news, sports and social highlights. In addition to the daily newspaper, the company publishes El Mercadito, which is delivered to every home in the region. Periodically, the Laredo Morning Times prints 60,000 copies of Spanish language publications and distributes these in Monterrey, Mexico. Over the years, the Laredo Morning Times has earned numerous awards for editorial excellence.

Contest Central: Clarifying the cover letter format for beat writing

Gerry Ahern — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:57:54 +0000

By Gerry Ahern

USA TODAY Sports Media Group

I've had several questions regarding the proper format for a cover letter to accompany the beat writing entry submissions.

The cover letter for beat writing should be narrative and does not have to follow a specific format (other than it should not be longer than one 8 1/2 x 11 page).

From the story announcing the birth of the beat writing category in the contest:

Entries should include a cover letter with a synopsis of how the combined submissions demonstrate excellence on the beat. The cover letter should note metrics that show authority and audience engagement on the beat (such as blog, chat or message board traffic.) Each paper or website will be allowed two entries in the beat writer category.

Hope this helps.

If you have questions, send them my way.

President’s column: Being a judge is the toughest assignment you’ll ever love

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:36:34 +0000

By Michael A. Anastasi

Managing Editor/Sports, Features and Production, Salt Lake Tribune

APSE President

Something I’ll never forget is receiving the news, more than 20 years ago, of my first APSE award.

Back in those days, there were fewer categories and circulation divisions. I was the sports editor of a 10,000-circulation daily, so being named among the Top 10 in column writing in the 50,000-and-under division was an accomplishment that made me proud.

That’s because I knew that my work was rigorously judged by my peers and then, as now, that is what distinguishes APSE’s annual recognition of the nation’s best work in sports journalism.

Like most sports editors across the country, you’re probably cramming to prepare this year’s entries. The deadline is Jan. 24. Unlike virtually every other professional contest, there is no entry fee for APSE’s. Being a member is the only requirement, and one member at an organization makes the entire staff eligible. You can still join.

Of course, as with all journalism contests, APSE’s is and should be criticized and scrutinized. It is an imperfect measure of excellence.

Just as our industry continues to evolve, so too does the contest. In my three years of national office, we’ve added the website contest, expanded it from two to three groups, changed the circulation breakdowns for the four print section divisions, added a multimedia category and, this year, added a new category for beat writing — a craft that has undergone dramatic change since game stories were first put into the contest as a way to recognize the best at day-in, day-out reporting.

We’ve worked to streamline and modernize many rules, and I suspect we’ll be discussing more ways to do so in Orlando. (As a reminder, a story can be entered in only one category, which includes the beat-writing category. We’ve been getting a lot of questions about that).

This year will be the first website winners are eligible for the Triple Crown (three Top 10’s among the website or three section categories). And, surely, more changes are in store.

Digital journalism will continue to grow in importance. Recognition of the best tablet editions are undoubtedly ahead. Editors will want to honor those who are so expert at utilizing social media, a critical component of today’s sports journalism toolbox.

And the mechanics of the contest will change, too. What about an offsite judging process? That’s a question at least a few people ask every year.

I can tell you that although APSE has done a great job of developing an offsite process for website judging, an overwhelming number of editors have told me how much they value our annual winter conference.

There’s no other time when you will sit in a room studying for three days the best work in the land, let alone doing so with the expertise and experience offered by your fellow judges. I’ve been told frequently that that time, the many conversations with colleagues about stories and sections, the shop talk in the evenings afterward can be more valuable than more formal professional development opportunities.

If you want to be a judge this year in Orlando, there remains time to sign up. We are meeting beginning the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 18 and concluding by noon on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Please contact me or Gerry Ahern, contest chair and first vice president, for details.

I promise it’ll be an experience that makes you a better editor.

You’ll never work harder, or learn more.

Michael A. Anastasi is the president of APSE. He can be reached at manastasi@sltrib.com. If you would like to join APSE, contact Executive Director Jack Berninger at jackapse@aol.com. You can reach Gerry Ahern at gahern@usatoday.com.

Details on Red Smith Award voting process as nominations open Jan. 23

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:37:37 +0000

Notes from Bob Yates of The Dallas Morning News about this year's Red Smith Award voting, submitted in an e-mail to voters:

Everyone,

It's time again to start the selection process for the Red Smith award.

I am touching base to make sure the email address I have for you is indeed correct and the best way to contact you. Please confirm with Wendy Dalchau, my assistant, by Jan. 19 at wdalchau@dallasnews.com or 214-977-8453.

I also need to let you know about changes in the process for 2012. The APSE executive committee has expanded the voting. Joining past presidents and previous Red Smith winners will be national officers, active members who have belonged to APSE for at least 10 years and alumni members who belonged to APSE for at least 15 years.

Here are other key points on voter eligibility:

* Each news organization will be limited to a single vote.

* If there are several members eligible at a given organization, the senior editor will vote, just as he or she does now for national

office.

* Past presidents and Red Smith winners retain their vote and are not included in the limit of one per organization.

Award nominations may be made by any member eligible to vote for the award as well as region chairs. Bill Millsaps of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, of course, was the 2011 winner. As the five top vote-getters from last year, Peter Finney, Henry Freeman, Dan Jenkins, Leigh Montville and George Vecsey will automatically be on the ballot for 2012.

Here are the milestones for the 2012 award process:

* Jan. 23 – Nominations open. Eligible voters and region chairs will receive an email seeking nominations. Nominations should be sent to Bob Yates at byates@dallasnews.com and should include a brief biography of the candidate.

* Feb. 20 – Nominations close.

* Feb. 27 – Eligible voters receive an email ballot.

* March 13 – Deadline for ballots to be returned.

* March 15 – 2012 Red Smith winner announced.

Bob Yates

Deputy Managing Editor/Sports

The Dallas Morning News

Northeast Region partners with Marist College

admin — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:14:57 +0000

By Josh Barnett

Executive Sports Editor, Philadelphia Daily News

Chair, Region Committee

APSE’s Northeast Region and the Marist College Center for Sports Communication have formalized a partnership that began several years ago with an intern in the sports department at the Middletown Herald-Record.

The sports editor at the time was Matt Pepin, now with Boston.com. Because of the intern in his department from Marist, Pepin met Keith Strudler, the center’s director. Pepin invited Strudler to bring some students to a region meeting. A year later, Marist hosted the Northeast region meeting and then the following year, Marist was again the host.

“I think that's when I realized having this kind of regular interaction between Marist and the Northeast APSE would really benefit us and the editors/writers, who could learn more about what's happening with emerging sports journalists,” Strudler said.

At the most recent region meeting, the Northeast approved a formal arrangement. It includes Marist providing meeting space and a web page for the Northeast Region, and the Northeast assisting in providing content for the web site such as best practices guides, award-winning work and other resources.

“Marist had already been an excellent resource for the APSE Northeast, hosting a pair of meetings and supplying several of our members with interns, so it made sense to formalize our partnership and play to the strengths of each organization since we share very similar goals – the pursuit of the highest quality sports journalism,” Pepin said.

Strudler said he paid attention to the partnership between the national organization and the National Sports Journalism Center at IUPUI and “realized that having universities and sports editors join together could positively shape both the profession and the education leading up to it.”

He said the primary goal is to “create a dialogue between our students and current working sports editors and writers … and it maintains that link between academia and instruction and the professional world of sports journalism.”

The Marist’s concentration in sports journalism began in 2002, making it among the oldest such program. There are about 130 majors and 25 minors who take courses in sports reporting, sports broadcasting, and sports public relations along with in sport sociology and the business and operations of sports media. Strudler said the newly created Center “will bring in speakers, run research projects and guide the curriculum.”

Register goes wrestling crazy

The Des Moines Register launched a three-page season preview of all levels of wrestling in the singlet-zany state. The paper, which also hired a wrestling writer (Andy Hamilton from the Iowa City Press-Citizen) is also starting a weekly wrestling notebook for the first time. Iowa City is hosting the 2012 Olympic Trials, and the University of Iowa has made a bid to host a future NCAA Tournament.

The paper also launched a digital project on Christmas Day: "99 Counties Project." It has built a searchable online site that shows every sanctioned high school team championship in the history of the state, county by county, for all of Iowa’s 99 counties.

You will be able to search by sport, by year, by school and it all will pop up with a new statewide, county display. The paper also will be adding about 20-30 pieces of multimedia like video interviews, photos and some audio to highlight some of the championships. Example: We have a video in wrestling legend Dan Gable's living room, with him talking about winning the state wrestling title as a teenager at Waterloo West.

To submit items, contact your region chair of Josh Barnett at barnetj@phillynews.com or 215-854-5212.

IU students available for local Super Bowl stories

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:51:05 +0000

Indiana University's Student News Bureau is covering media day for this year's Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

IU, which has a partnership with APSE, is looking for story assignments from APSE-member news organizations. If you have a player or coach participating in the Super Bowl from your area, and are looking for a story, contact Pamela Laucella, adviser and academic director of the National Sports Journalism Center. She can be reached at plaucell@indiana.edu.

On the Move: Columnist Krieger leaving Denver Post

Josh Barnett — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:04:41 +0000

By Josh Barnett
Executive Sports Editor, Philadelphia Daily News; chair, APSE Region committee

Dave Krieger, who has worked at Denver newspapers for 30 years, is leaving for sports talk radio.

Krieger, who spent nearly the last three years as a sports columnist at the Denver Post, will join KOA (850-AM) full time as the co-host for the Dave Logan afternoon show, “The Ride Home.” He has been filling in for Logan for much of the past year.

"The opportunity at KOA was too good to pass up," Krieger said in a story posted on the Post website. "I thank the Post for the not quite three years I spent there."

Krieger came to the Post in March 2009, shortly after the Rocky Mountain News closed. He had been at the paper since 1981 as a sports reporter, sports columnist and city side reporter. He had previously worked as a City Hall/general assignment reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer, in the state capitol bureau at the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press and as the city editor and a general assignment reporter for the Eagle-Times in New Hampshire.

He also had a six-month tenure as the press secretary for U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy from Vermont.
**
In other moves:

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Kate Fagan has left the Philadelphia Inquirer for espnW.com, where she will be a columnist. Fagan spent three year at the Inquirer covering the 76ers after working for The Post-Star in Glens Falls, N.Y.

“On her farewell blog post, Fagan wrote, “I think what I learned throughout the last three years is that Philly is looking for only one thing: passion and effort. I made a lot of mistakes, some more noticeable than others, but I can say that nearly all Sixers' fans were willing to forgive those errors if it came accompanied with additional effort: a long blog post after a crucial win or loss — one at least attempting to explain some of the things that had happened on the court that night.

“Thanks to all the e-mailers and posters who took the time to add to the discussion, especially here on Deep Sixer. I was grateful the dialogue rarely devolved; it was always my goal to talk basketball and X's and O's.”

The Inquirer has hired John N. Mitchell to cover the Sixers. Mitchell’s previous NBA experience includes covering the Wizards for the Washington Times.

SEATTLE TIMES: Jon Fisch, assistant sports editor / presentation, was one of three managers and five full-time newsroom employees laid off. His last day was Jan. 5. Fisch was hired as a page designer from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in July 2007 and was promoted in April 2008. Fisch's departure comes during a time of major changes for The Seattle Times. The newsroom and several other departments are vacating the John Street building The Times has occupied since the 1930s as the newspaper consolidates Seattle operations in a nearby building on Denny Way. Sports is scheduled to move Jan. 11. Sports editor Don Shelton said he will reassign Fisch's duties and reorganize the department, with details to be announced before the end of January.

EVERETT (WASH.) HERALD: John McDonald retired on Dec. 31 after 34 years at the newspaper. McDonald held a number of key positions in the sports department, including beat writer for the Seattle Mariners, beat writer for the Everett AquaSox minor-league baseball team and, most recently, high school sports editor.

CENTRAL NEW YORK NEWSPAPERS: Matt Traub has been named the Regional Sports Editor for the Binghamton (N.Y.). Press & Sun-Bullentin, Elmira Gazette and Ithaca Journal. Kevin Hogan was promoted to night sports editor. Traub is the first sports editor responsible for all three papers. He replaces Charlie Jaworski, who was the executive sports editor of the Binghamton paper until last July after 38 years with the company. Traub had been the Sunday Sports Editor of the The State in Columbia, S.C., since August 2007. He also previously had been the sports editor of the Bloomsburg (Pa.) Press Enterprise and the Lock Haven (Pa.) Express. Hogan replaces assistant sports editor Dave Schultz, who moved to Texas for family reasons. After Schultz’s depature, the company changed the title and formalized Hogan’s position to reflect his responsibility for production at all three newspapers. Hogan has been with the company for 12 years and worked his way up from agate clerk.

BALTIMORE SUN: Monique Jones and Ed Encina recently joined the Baltimore Sun sports department. Jones will be a content editor overseeing the department's columnists and the Baltimore Sports Blitz blog. She previously was a reporter for the Boston Globe covering the New England Patriots. She has also been a sports reporter at the Dallas Morning News and Pensacola News Journal. She is a University of Florida graduate. Encina will be the Baltimore Orioles beat reporter. He previously covered high school and pro sports for the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune. Prior to his time in Florida, Encina covered Penn State football for the York Daily Record. He’s a University of Maryland graduate and former Sun intern.
**
If you have notes for “On the Move,” contact Josh Barnett at barnetj@phillynews.com or 215-854-5700 or your region chair.

Web editor

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:52:14 +0000

The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi is seeking an experienced, aggressive and talented web editor to take our online sports coverage to the next level.

We have a growing audience, both local and international, and we're looking for someone with the skills, creativity and initiative to lead the way in building and implementing a strategy for reaching even more readers.

The opportunities for continued growth are almost limitless: Our "local" coverage area is vast, from the English Premier League to the Volvo Ocean Race, from a full calendar of big-time international events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (golf, tennis, cricket, Formula One, rugby, horse racing) to local sports leagues.

• The ideal candidate will have at least five years' experience in online sports journalism and a proven track record of delivering results (i.e., page views) in a fast-paced, deadline driven environment.

• He or she must adapt to new technologies efficiently and effectively.

• Being able to edit stories and write clear, concise, web-friendly headlines is essential.

• Knowledge of international sports is a plus; being able to work in a diverse, multi-cultural environment is essential.

The National offers a competitive salary, full health benefits and five weeks of paid vacation per year.

Adventurers, of course, are welcome. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which is home to millions of expatriates from around the world. The region is rich in history and culture, and the UAE is an excellent jumping-off point for exploring this part of the world.

If interested, please send a resume and cover letter to sports editor Robert Mashburn at rmashburn@thenational.ae